Shopsmith Forums

Greetings, all!

I am in the process of planning and budgeting for a new pole barn shop building for retirement woodworking. I have a varied collection of Shopsmith tools. I would appreciate experienced advice regarding suggestions for features/considerations in the new structure. My setup will allow for the installation of a 100 amp electrical service. Any advice or ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Have lots of electrical outlets, can't have too many. I put one on every other stud.

joedw00 wrote:Have lots of electrical outlets, can't have too many. I put one on every other stud.

Ahh but you can have too many. Too many would occur at that point where the some of individual outlet current capacities exceeds the associated breaker or the sum of all breakers exceeds input capacity.

I know you know that but ....well, you can have too many.

hiramelu wrote:Greetings, all!

I am in the process of planning and budgeting for a new pole barn shop building for retirement woodworking. I have a varied collection of Shopsmith tools. I would appreciate experienced advice regarding suggestions for features/considerations in the new structure. My setup will allow for the installation of a 100 amp electrical service. Any advice or ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Since you are starting from scratch, I would suggest that you bring 220vac 60 amp to the shop and then at least as much power as required to service as many 110vac outlets as you have stationary power tools that require 110vac PLUS two for the work bench.

The one other consideration. How high up from the floor. I wish that all of mine were about 30"-36" up off the floor. I would move mine but for windows. BTW, there may be a code requirement on this.

Put in lots of lighting. I installed six dual 8ft fluorescent fixtures to illuminate a 14' x 20' shop area. That's 900W total, and not a bit too much for my less than youthful eyes. If even one fixture goes out, the lighting degrades substantially.

To make the available light go even farther, as well as provide for lots of configurable storage, I paneled the shop in white pegboard. That worked out well on both counts. Although I must say, I really prefer the warm look of wood cabinetry and shelving. I'll probably morph more in that direction as time permits.

My shop is in a section of the basement originally intended to be a wet bar. That never happened, but it did have a sink drain roughed in. I took advantage of that, ran hot and cold water lines over, and installed a utility sink with both a regular faucet and a spray shower head on a flex hose. That is incredibly convenient to have right in the shop.

Update: I am getting closer to being able to have a shop built. The site is about 350 feet from the transformer/meter. What size of underground cable would be needed to deliver up to a 200amp service in a 2-inch conduit?

hiramelu wrote:Greetings, all!

I am in the process of planning and budgeting for a new pole barn shop building for retirement woodworking. I have a varied collection of Shopsmith tools. I would appreciate experienced advice regarding suggestions for features/considerations in the new structure. My setup will allow for the installation of a 100 amp electrical service. Any advice or ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Consider putting infloor heating system

sawmill wrote:Consider putting infloor heating system

In a pole barn? You'de be better off with a ceiling and a wood burning stove.